The Nico That (Almost) Destroyed Christmas

Will's Plot

"I told him I'd get him the best gift ever!" Will cried. "How am I supposed to do that!?"

"I'm sure anything you get him will be wonderful," Kayla said, "now help me with the lights."

Will stood from the chair and trudged across the room. "I don't even know what he wants." He picked up the corner of the light, then promptly dropped it, the color draining from his face.

"What?" Kayla snapped.

"And I have to compete with Jason!" Will cried.

Kayla dropped her end of the twinkling red and green bulbs and sighed. 

"He probably came up with the perfect gift! He's always hanging out with Nico, you know."

"At least he did the yelling when Nico snuck off to the Underworld that one time. Nico's probably still a little miffed about that."

"Yeah, but..."

"Just relax," Kayla said, scooping up the lights Will had dropped and sauntering to the back of the infirmary, apparently changing her mind about needing Will's help. "You'll come up with something."

Will stared down at the ground in a very Nico-like way. Kayla unraveled a bit of the lights, got up on one of the beds and worked on fastening the end to one corner of a window.

"Besides, you might even get some extra time. He's always disappearing as soon as everything gets fun... Actually, he might not even come to the Christmas campfire. He'll probably fake a cold or something."

"He doesn't--"

"Remember I'm an Apollo kid too. I can tell it's not a cold. You can't lie for him to me."

Will huffed. "It's not like he's trying to avoid everyone. He's an introvert."

Kelly fastened the next section of lights. "A what?"

"An introvert. Being around people makes them tired, so they need time to rest alone. My brother used to be like that, though not as bad as Nico." Will looked down again. "I think being alone for so long may have made it a worse for him..."

"Wow, you could just tell that's what it was?" Kelly asked.

"Well, I already knew an introverted person. My brother..." He fell silent and Kelly glanced down at him.

She couldn't tell if it was a coincidence or not that the sun chose that moment to peak around the windowsill and create a beam of gold to light up his face. 

"I've got an idea," he said suddenly, turning abruptly on his heel and dashing out before Kelly could even point out that he had promised to help her.

"Good luck!" she called lamely, watching the door slam and the room fall back into the persistent dimness that nobody could wash away since...

She sighed, staring down at the beams of light glaring lamely down at the floor. She looked down at her hands, wondering for a moment whether she had missed something.

None of the Apollo kids had been able to use their healing powers since Apollo's disappearance. Everything was done by old means: bandages, stitches. Ambrosia at least helped, but that couldn't heal everything.

At least Will's spirits were lifting. Everyone knew he was the most stressed about it, being so protective over his patients. What if someday someone was wounded too badly? What if they couldn't be saved?

No, she couldn't think about that. Besides, the war was over.

Kayla grabbed the lights and worked on fastening the next section around the window. Maybe some Christmas spirit would help light up the room.